Slapping someone else's children

I would never have the nerve to do anything, but I do think parents should take the child outside and home if they can't behave... I understand that young babies have no way of knowing any other method to let their wants be known, and I'm a lot more forgiving of those, tho I do find them annoying, but a 2 yr old doesn't cry because she needs changing, she's either tired, which means mom should've stayed HOME and let her sleep, or she's having a temper, which means that mom should take her away from whatever it is she's having the upset about. For example, I was in a store and a tot wasn't getting what it wanted from mom and started crying. The mom was there with the father and she left the father with the basket and took the child outside so he didn't get what he wanted and he didn't bother the rest of the store with his temper.

He didn't have any right to touch,let alone slap a baby.Wal mart's big enough that this man could have left the general area if he was that annoyed by the lil ones crying and went elsewhere. I've been shopping before and have heard babies cry, and at times I would just love to walk up to the mother and tell her that the baby needs to eat, sleep or has to burp, sometimes the mom's don't know why their kid is crying or just tell her that she needs to take baby out to the car for a few minutes, shopping isn't as important and their needs....for some reason, maybe because I had 3 kids, kids crying noise usually goes in one ear and out the other, unless it's the kid that is spoiled and crying for something they want and can't have. At the point where my kids would start crying and I couldn't get them to stop, I left the store and went back at a later time, there was nothing that I couldn't absolutely live without (except diapers)

First off, I'd never even think of hitting a child for crying. Sure, it can be irritating to hear, but kids cry. If it's too much for me, I just walk away. I don't even consider it acting inappropriately. However, it's the kids who throw the temper tantrums in the toy or candy aisles that are the worst because you know they've gotten away with it before and have succeeded in getting their way. Personally, I'd like to slap their mothers. My kids were not perfect, but I rarely had to discipline them in public. If I said no about something, they accepted it. None of them wanted that "look" from me. They were more likely to beg in the vegetable and fruit section of a store where I'd never deny them something. They tended to be more ornery at home and were complete angels everywhere else.

This is the first time I read something like this and personally I feel that it should have never escalated as it did. For one, the mother should have left inmediately if someone would have said something like that, or at least tell off the guy and tell him to mind his business or whatever, I know thats what I would have done. Over here, Ive seen parents that have scolded their kids in public and others who just dont care and let the kids rampage wild.. its like a welcoming card for people to want to take action. I remember at one point that I was at the shopping mall with my husband and we entered this store to buy some things for myself. At the store the salespeople and others were just nodding their heads or seem to complain about something, I turned to the right and found the reason why.. 3 kids, a 15 year old, a 9 year old and a 6 year old were misbehaving. The 13 year old was just being a total jerk to mom and dad just because it wasnt the right type of shoes that he wanted, the 9 year old and the 6 year old were playing around with the merchandise, parents were to absorbed with the 13 year old's behaviour that they couldnt handle the other 2. I was sitting at the couch, trying out some shoes when 5 year old approached me and hit my arm really hard yelling TAG!... I looked at the child and said "Why did you hit me? Dont your parents teach you any manners?" you dont hit people you dont know otherwise someone might come along and hit you back and hurt you seriously. Go back to your parents and behave." The child in less than a minute went back to her mom, and mother didnt even notice.

First of all I would like to comment on that 61 year old man. He have no single right to slap that child. It is really a violation of any law. Even the child annoys him it is really not right to slap the child not even once. How much more that he slap the child several times. I believe that it is very wrong. For you quesions, I have been to several shops, restaurants, offices and stores where I have come across someone else's child and annoys me a lot and I really wanted to slap, but because of my conscience I can not do that. I really have this urge, but I can control it. Especially when that child belongs to somebody else and I have no right to even scold that child making noises. If I have a child I don't scold them in public if they make unnecessary things. It is very inappropriate to scold them where many people can see. A child has their own conciousness and if they are humiliated in public the tendency is that they don't respect you anymore. Don't you agree? I think that's everything in my mind.

i would definitely not do that. if when i see a child crying in public places and the guardian can't control them i'd rather talk to the guardian...perhaps there's a little bit problem. a child won't cry if he doesn't have a problem. if it's just a plain tantrums, then talking to a child in a nice way will be a big help. although i'm just a stranger to him, i know he would listen. there are nice ways of saying no to a child. sometimes an adult would scare him a bit (if the child is so brat)just to stop him...but it's a big no no no to slapping a child. i don't want other people to slap my child that's why i hate slapping other children. i have brat niece & nephews, when they throw tantrums & won't listen to me or their mother that's the time that i'll beat their butts. i still believe in the saying "spare the cane, spoil the child"...i also do this to my son.... after that, sermon time... so that they will understand why i have to beat them...but never on a child's face or head.....

Oh I've seen many bratty little kids but ya know...never wanted to slap the kids. If I felt like I wanted to slap anyone ...it'd be the parents and that would be only when it is obvious that they are doing ignorant parenting. When kids act out...it isn't always the parents. Some kids are just difficult to deal with for many reasons. I actually don't react strongly unless I see out and out abuse to a child. I've raised four children without resorting to slapping and I can't imagine being that bothered by another kid acting out that is not my responsibility. My kids being kids have acted out in the store. Normally, I would leave the store. Sometimes that was not an option. I just dealt with it the best I could and they did not get treats when they acted out. It's not my problem and I won't make it mine. If someone slapped my child....then they would see my temper...it is there.

Feeling like you may want to slap the child and actually doing it are most definitely not the same thing! I have just come from a discussion about hitting children and there I stated that it is not something I believe in for my own child but to go ahead and hit someone else’s child...Why, that’s assault! I have been very lucky because my little one is pretty well behaved a lot of the time. I do remember once when she was about two years old she threw the biggest tantrum at the doctor’s surgery because she wanted to leave! I took her outside to the car and there we sat until she calmed down. Best thing to do when children get naughty in public is to remove them from the area until they improve. Yes I have felt irritated by other kids but hit them? No way...

It was never easy,,A parent shows so much love and a kind heart for own kids,,that to slap him/her is a hard job,, and more likely the kid will make more noise if he/she is a spoilt child,training should be such that there would be no need to slap a kid,,talking should do the job

Hello , yes I have had such an experience whenmy child was a toddler. She will start crying all of a sudden and will not stop at all.When this happen in public places naturally we get annoyed. But I never have physically hurt fo crying. So it is rather very unbecoming of that man to slap another's child. If he could not stand it he should have requested or should have left the shop

woh, that's totally psychological incapacity! anyway, i dont have kids but i have two nephews. both adorable and annoying at the same time. there were times when i feel annoyed, instead of shouting at them or spank them, i attacked them by my kisses and carried them like superman. we wrestled the 3 of us and they will jump on me. cant beat them, join them! they're my stress reliever and i love kids. ü

Hi I think no one has the right to even shout at some one elses kid. If they feel that disturbed they should leave the place instead of involving in such rude and cruel behavior. I'm so protective of my sister's kids, so i think it will be the same when it comes to my kid. May be i'll warn my baby but slapping them is not good. Its a very cruel act.

i'm still young, i have no kids. but i also excepienced such situation in public place. the kid kept crying, most people were annoyed at it. the mother coaxed her kid to stop crying but in vain. though it's really annoying to us, but all of us chose scilent. i think it's not so serious to slap the kid as Stephens did. obviously, he has psychological problems.

In the toddler's growth up, we should share more patience,care with the childen. No one could agree that the old man has the right to slap other people's childen, even God did not give the right to their parents to do so... It may be more serious to put that man into jail with the violence tendency, but at least his behavious should be blamed by the public so that the good atmosphere should be protected in our community.

Yeah I heard about this, and I am absolutely appalled that it would happen. The way I see it, if I ever feel the urge to slap a child, even if I don't carry it out, I am too dangerous to be outside of a locked jail cell. The ONLY people I've ever had the urge to slap were people who physically attacked me in some way or another; the guy who tried to pull me out of a cab i was entering, the guy who ran into me with a bike on the sidewalk the other night, the guy who tried to kill my next door neighbour... and believe me, the confrontation only got as physical as it needed to before the people in question backed off (you grab me, I defend myself!!!) but even those confrontations didn't get as violent as this guy and the little girl. I did what I needed to do to save my own life, not reacting out of anger, but out of self defense. What this man did was totally wrong!!!

If I was the mother of that child, i don't know what I would have done to that man. Nobody, even parents themselves, have the right to hurt their children that much and especially in public. In my culture, it's ok to hurt children enough just to teach them some lessons or for discipline's sake. But not too much as to really hurt them. I haven't yet experienced meeting a child that I'd really want to slap. I always have a soft spot for children even before I have children of my own. If they are undisciplined, don't blame them. Blame the parents.